Kitchenware and small appliances are gaining popularity overseas

In the past two years, kitchenware and small appliances have ushered in an unprecedented overseas boom worldwide. This trend is particularly evident under the promotion of social media platforms such as TikTok. A series of small appliances with strong practicality and novel designs have frequently become popular, and even set off a wave of small appliances going overseas, becoming a bridge connecting China’s manufacturing industry with global consumers.

Dumpling machine goes viral: Food revolution on TikTok

In April 2024, a video on TikTok about “How to use a dumpling machine” quickly became popular, with more than 200 million views and 9 million likes in a short period of time. In the video, blogger @suzaki65 interprets the use of the dumpling machine in an interesting and creative way through a series of creative operations, which has aroused heated discussions and imitations from netizens around the world. This dumpling machine has not only attracted attention for its unique functions and practicality, but also became an Internet celebrity product on TikTok because of the blogger’s “flowery operation”, successfully attracting the attention of a large number of overseas consumers.

Automatic cooking machine: a product of the lazy economy

On November 16 of the same year, a video about “cooking scrambled eggs with tomatoes” released by TikTok blogger @airlandolists caused a sensation again. In the video, the blogger showed an automatic cooking machine, which can make a delicious scrambled eggs with tomatoes in a few minutes through simple operation. This automatic cooking machine quickly became popular with its novel design concept and convenient operation method. As of now, the video has been played more than 18.9 million times, and the comment area is even more lively. Netizens have ridiculed the design of this product and expressed their strong interest in this cooking pot.

The popularity of this automatic cooking machine not only reflects consumers’ pursuit of convenient life, but also reflects an increasingly prominent consumption trend: the rise of the lazy economy. In the fast-paced modern life, people are increasingly inclined to choose technological products that can reduce the burden of housework and improve the quality of life.

Chinese small household appliances are popular overseas: trends and data

In recent years, with the rise of the “stay-at-home economy” and the drive of the “lazy economy”, the small household appliance market has ushered in unprecedented development opportunities. Small household appliances with small size, easy operation, high appearance and high cost performance have emerged in the online market and are favored by overseas consumers.

On TikTok, a hashtag called #Chinese Gadgets for Home has accumulated more than 80 million posts, most of which introduce some Chinese furniture and electrical appliances worth buying. Among them, small household appliances such as electric salt and pepper grinders and vacuum cleaners have successfully won the love and pursuit of overseas consumers with their practicality and innovation.

From the data, the export of China’s small household appliances has also shown a steady growth trend. According to relevant statistics, since 2024, China’s home appliance exports have achieved steady growth, with the total export volume in the first three quarters reaching US$96.92 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%. Among them, exports to the North American market have further rebounded. In the first three quarters, China’s home appliance (white goods) products exported to the North American market amounted to US$19.4 billion, an increase of nearly 22 percentage points year-on-year. In addition, small kitchen appliances also showed varying degrees of growth. The export growth rate of products such as blenders, toasters, coffee pots, microwave ovens, and rice cookers has exceeded the level of the whole year last year.

The future of small appliances: a hot incubator on TikTok

For small appliances, platforms such as TikTok are undoubtedly an excellent hot incubator. Small appliances are very suitable for promotion and marketing on social media platforms such as TikTok due to their low prices, fast iterations, and wide variety. Through creative video content and precise target audience positioning, small appliances can quickly attract the attention and interest of a large number of consumers, thereby achieving rapid sales growth.

At the same time, small appliances also meet consumers’ needs for personalization, scenario-based, and ritual sense. On platforms such as TikTok, consumers can see the application and display of various small appliances in different scenarios, so as to understand the functions and characteristics of the products more intuitively. This scenario-based display method not only enhances consumers’ desire to buy, but also increases the added value and competitiveness of products.

In summary, the high popularity of small kitchen appliances overseas is the result of the combined effect of multiple factors. Driven by social media such as TikTok, small household appliances have not only achieved rapid growth in sales, but have also successfully entered the global market. In the future, as consumers’ pursuit of convenient and quality life continues to improve, the small household appliances market will usher in a broader development prospect.